Dumping scow



June 10 1924.

R. c. WILSON ET AL DUMPING SCOW Sheets-Sheet 1 June 10 1924.

1,497,627 R. c. WILSON ET Al.

DUMPING SCOW Filed Oct. 27. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jame 1o, 1924. 1,497,627

Y R. C. WILSON ET AL l DUMPING scow Filed om.. 27'. 1925 3 sheets-sheet :s

n /w/{ Y l 45, gf /1 ...1

` v un Patented June 10, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD C. WILSON ANI) WAL-TEE B. BROUKS, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAD.

DUMPING SCOW.

Application filed @ctober 27, 1923.

enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in dumping scows, and has for an obtra ject to improve the mechanism now employed for this' purpose to the end that the scow may be more conveniently loaded with less likelihood of injury to the operating part-s, and in which the construction for closing the doors is compact and simple, and in which no tendency will. exist to distort the doors should material be caught for instance in one end thereof.

@ther objects of the invention are to provide an improved mechanism employing either compressed air, water or steam for `the actuating agent operating through a reciprocating piston located in a cylinder lying longitudinally of the pocket in the scow and for driving a crosshead mounted for ease in movement and coupled to the doors by the use of flexible cables; to provide latch means in conjunction with the crosshead for normally holding the doors closed and against accidental dumping while involving in the construction of the latch a relatively broad wear face for coming in contact with the: crossliead and for further providing inA connection with the latch mechanism a steadying device for the crosshead at a point near the cylinder head, withoutl` however, interfering with the clearance about the cylinder head, which will enable the crosshead to move close to said cylinder head when drawing the piston out of the far end of thegcylinder for purposes of repacking.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to .like or corresponding parts through the several views; v Figure 1 is "ragmentary cross-sectional Serial N0. 671,222.

view taken ythrough a scow. with the iinproved mechanism installed thereon;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken through a portion of the scowl comprising substantially lthe length of one of the pockets;

Figure 3 through ythe cylinder head and latch mechanism andsliowing the crosshead and guide roll in elevation;

Figure t is a plan View of the parts shown in Fig. 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective view `of, the wear block of the latch mechanism;

Figure 6 is a transverse section taken on the line 6 6 in Fig. 3; and

Figure 7 is a View taken on the line 7-7 also in Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 8 designates generally a scow Vof conventional construction, in which the interior space is divided by transverse bulk-heads 9' and 10 into a number of longitudinal pockets having sloping side walls 11 and 12 converging downwardly after the fashion of al hopper to an eXit opening 13 at the base of the pocket and extending longitudinally thereof, which exit opening is closed normally by the pair of cooperating doors ,14 and 15 pivoted or hinged at their outer, ends as indicated at 16 and 17 and adapted to swing down for dumping the load7 as suggested in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The invention contemplates a mechanism for raising these doors after dumping and for holding the: doors in the closed position during transportation of the load. Mechanisms are apt to distort the doors in closing, particularly if one end of the door becomes jammed through the presence of rigid material getting between the door and the walls of the pocket. Breakage of the doors occurs and loss of the load -through this source and a great deal of expense is involved in replacing and repairing the doors when so distorted and broken and present mechanisms are also undesirable for the reason that they do not effectively hold the load in place and the control devices are in objectionable places and interfere with the loading of the pockets.

The present mechanism is located in a compartment 18 at the side of the pocket, it being understood that as many mechanisms as there are pockets are provided. The

is an enlarged sectional view' mechanism involves the use of a cylinder 19 lying with its axis longitudinally of the scow and in the compartment 18 at a low point therein.- In the cylinder is a piston 2O driven by the use of compressed air, water or steam or the like which enters through the pipe 21 under the control of the valve 22 above the deck 23, but located to i the side of the pocket and belo-w the gunwale, so as to be out of the way of the loadingy apparatus and not subject to injury from the loading buckets. The plunger 2() is kpacked in the usual way and is coupled to a. piston rod 24 which extends through a stuffing box 25 having the stuffing nut 26, said stuffing box being carried by the cylinder head 27, which is threaded or otherwise secured upon the inner end of the cylinder. The head 27 is provided with an abutment 28 extending out for a considerable distance at the upper portion of the head and reinforced by webs 29, as shown in Figs. 3 and 7, the webs vbeing cut out as indicated at 30 for lightening the structure. The abutment is provided at its outer end with a` head 31 for extending above and engaging the upper portion ofthe crosshead 32 carried by the piston rod 24. The surface of the head 31 which comes in contactrwith the crosshead is extensive in axial length but the arrangement and disposition of the abutment is such as to avoid interference. with the crosshead 32 in moving in against the packing nut 26. It` is desirable to have the crosshead move into this position when drawing the piston 20 out of the left or head end of the cylinder 19 for purposes of repacking or recupp-ing. rlhe crosshead need not be removed from the piston rod 24. The head 31 is provided with a. bevel nose 33 cooperating with a rear bevel edge 34 upon the crosshead for guiding the crosshead beneath the head of the abutment when moving to the. left after having been driven outwardly. The' abutment head prevents the crosshead from swinging upwardly, particularly when the latch is released as hereinafter described, and the amount of friction between the latch and crosshead is thereby lessened and bending strains upon the plunger rod 24 are avoided. A circumferential groove 35 is made in the forward portion of the crosshead to receive the roller 36 which rolls upon the track 37 extending along beyond the cylinder and coaxial therewith. The roller 36 is provided with heads 38 as shown in Fig. 6, in order to guide the roller on the supporting track. This arrangement provides for the greatest ease in movement of the crosshead. The latch mechanism consists of two bars 39 and 40 held spaced apart by an intermediate block 41 of steel or other suitable material, the barsl and the block being coupled together intermediately as kby the rivets 42 or other fasteners. The block 41 and the links are extended downwardly at an intermediate point to provide an abutment 43 for engaging the outer end of the crosshead 32 as shown in Fig. 3. The engaging faces are parallel and cont-acting throughout when the latch is in the lower position, and an inclined wall 44 is provided upon the forward underface of the latch to also cooperate with the bevel rear edge of the crosshead whereby the latch may be guided upwardly as the crosshead moves to the left. The bars or links 39 and 40 are fitted at one end rotatably in cut out portions in the abutment 28 andare pivoted therein upon the pin 45, so as to swing in a substantial vertical direction. The free ends of the links are coupled together by a pin 46 which is connected with the lower end of a rod 47 extending u wardly in the compartment above the dec i, where it is provided with a crosspin 48 eugaging in a slot 49 in the segmental portion 50 of an operating lever 51, which is pivfir oted as indicated at 52 in a pedestal 53 58 mounted at the right hand lower corner .f

of the compartment 18. rllhe cable 56 extends diagonally of the compartment and over a sheave 59 mounted in the upper left hand portion of the compartment, as shown in Fig. 2. The two cables then extend over guide sheaves 60 and 61 mounted above the deck and enclosed in proper housings. From these sheaves the cables extend into the pockets where they are coupled to chains 62. The chains run over sheaves 63 mounted centrally of the pockets and being divided into branches 64 and 65 beneath the sheaves` the branches extending to and being secured to the doors 14 and 15, as shown in Fig. l.

The opera-tion is as follows: When the doors are in the closed position shown in Fig. 1, the crosshead is in the left hand position and locked in this position by the engagement of the latch. When it is desired to dump the load. the lever 51 is lifted. This lever will have no eti'ect for a certain angular distance ldue lo the slot 4-9 which will permit the lever to be raised to a position where great pressure from the foot of the operator may be developed to raise the rod 47 and lift the. latch out of engagen'ient with the crosshead. Due to the extensive surface of the latch and dm` to the presence of the steel block between the links 39 and 40 wear will be taken up and the parts will not have to be replaced for long periods of time. The load will then be free to fall through the doors 14- and 15 and the doors are subsequently raised lou llll

and letting the steam, air or water into the cylinder 19. This will have the effect to drive the piston to the left and to restore the. crosshead to the position where it will re-engage the latch. The abut-ment will prevent the crosshead from being lifted with the latch and due to the circular movement of the latch the contacting face thereof will move away from the crosshead rather than wipe across the same, so that there will be substantially no friction and very little wear. The roller and track will take up a great deal of the friction involved in the motion of the crosshead and will make the closing movement of the doors a much smoother operation. The flexible connections to one crosshead will avoid breakage or distortion in the doors and will substantially have a compensating effect should any jamming tend to occur. After the latch is re-engaged and in the lower position, the lever 5l may be turned down due to the slot 49, so that it will lie substantially horizontally beneath the gunwale where same will not be in the way of the loading buckets. The entire upper portion of the scow is thus free for the loading operation.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A dumping scow comprising a pocketed structure, hinged doors for controlling the outlets from the several pockets, compartments beside the pockets, a cylinder in each con'ipartment with its axis lying substantially longitudinal of the scow, a piston in the cylinder, a crosshead coupled to the piston on the exterior of the cylinder, means in the compartment for guiding and easing the movement of the crosshead, cables connected to said crosshead and to the doors, means for guiding the cables, a latch for normally engaging with the crosshead in the closed position of the doors, and a head for the cylinder having an abutment to which said latch is movably secured, said abut ment having a head for engaging and guiding the crosshead and for preventing the crosshead from being pulled by the latch therewith in the releasing movement of the latch.

2. A dumping scow comprising a pocketed structure, hinged doors forcontrolling the outlets from the several pockets, compartments beside the pockets, a cylinder in each compartment with its axis lying substantially longitudinal of the scow, a piston in the cylinder, a crosshead coupled to the piston on the exterior of the cylinder, means in the compartment for guiding andeasing the movement of the crosshead, cables connected to said crosshead and to the doors, means for guiding the cables, a latch for normally engaging with the crosshead in the closed position of the doors, an abutment carried at the inner end of the cylinder and having a head for engaging and guiding said crosshead, said latch being pivoted in said guiding head, said guiding head being supported free from the path of the crosshead, said crosshead and said guiding head having mutual faces for directing the crosshead within the guiding head.

8. A dumping scow comprising a poclteted i structure, hinged doors for controlling the outlets from the several pockets, compartments beside the pockets, a. cylinder in each compartment with its axis lying substantially longitudinal of the scow, a piston in the cylinder, a. crosshead coupled to the piston on theexterior of the cylinder, means in the compartment for guiding and easing the movement of the crosshead, cables connected to said crosshead and to the doors, means for guiding' the cables, a latch for normally engaging with the crosshead inthe closed position of the doors, said latch composed. of spaced bars, and a block secured between said bars and forming an extensive contacting surface therewith for enn gaging the crosshead.

4. A dumping scow comprising a pocketed structure, hinged doors for controlling the outlets from the several pockets, compartments beside the pockets, a cylinder in each compartment with its axis lying substantially longitudinal of the scow, a piston in the cylinder, a crosshead coupled to the piston on the exterior of the cylinder, means in the compartment for guiding and easing the movement of the crosshead, cables connected to said crosshead and to the doors, means for guiding the cables, a latch for normally engaging with the crosshead in the closed position of the doors, said latch composed of a pair of bars pivoted at one end, and a block secured between the bars intermediately of the ends of the bars, said bars and block having projecting portions forming an abutment for contacting with the crosshead and with an inclined surface opposite to the abutment for lifting the latch by the movement of the crosshead.

' 5. A dumping scow comprising apocketed structure, hinged doors for controlling the outlets from the several pockets, compartments beside the pockets, acylinder in each compartment with its axis lying substantially longitudinal of the scow, a piston in the cylinder, a crosshead coupled to the piston on the exterior of the cylinder, means in the compartment for guiding and easing the movement of the crosshead, cables connected to said crosshead and to the doors,

lll)

means for guiding the cables, a latch for normally engaging rWith the orosshead in the closed position of the doors, aV rod coupled to said latch and extending above the soow deck, and a lever coupled loosely to said rod and adapted to he swung down close to the deck Without eeoting movement of the rod or latch and capable of beinglifted to operative position due to the loose oonneetion Without initially lifting said rod.

6. A dumping scow comprising a poclieted strueture,`hinged doors for Controlling the outlets from the several pockets, compartments beside the pockets, a cylinder in each compartment with its axis lying substantially longitudinal of the soow, a piston in the cylinder,V :l orossliead coupled tio the piston on the exterior of the cylinder' moans in the compartment for guiding und easing the movement of llie erossliond, cables connected to said crossheud and to the doors, means for guiding the Cables, a latch for normally engaging with the oiosslieud in (he Closed position of the doors, said crosshead having :in annulzn` groove, a. roller in the groove confined by the walls of the groove, und :L track on which said roller is adapted to run in the movement of the cross head.

RICHARD C. WILSON. WALTER B. BROOKS. 

